Pro photos from 2/1 schooling hunter show (Paddy pic spam!)

The pro photographer who was taking pictures at the 2/1 schooling hunter show posted her pics online. Apparently she thought Paddy was super cute, because like half of the pics are of him. Anyway, here they are, with bonus snarky commentary:

I should get bonus style points for the coat flip. Paddy should get bonus style points 'cause he's cute.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my upper body in this picture, but it looks really uncomfortable.

Jumping... with a weird twist.

Slightly more normal.

Are you tired of seeing this fence yet? I know I am.

Excellent pic of him cross-cantering after him landing on the right lead. Still trying to figure out why he does this.

You can tell how fast we're going not only by the fact that I'm saying "Hoooo," but also by his most excellent forelock, which does the Fabio hair thing over speeds of mach one-Haffie.

Look, his ears aren't forward!!!

Professional poser.

All photos courtesy of Gorgeous Equine Photography.

Deb Rosen Clinic: Stadium

The stadium session with Deb was late in the afternoon, so Paddy got to hang out on the trailer with Taran in the interim, eating hay and generally annoying each other. When it got close to time for our session, we tacked and headed over to the outdoor. Once again, we did the zoomy trot warmup – I’m pretty sure we terrified some of the other folks as we careened around the arena, but I kept his nose between his shoulders and just let him do his thing. After about 5 minutes, he let me know he was done with the zoomies, so I pushed him to keep trotting for another minute or two, did some serpentines and circles, and took a walk break. We did some squares at the walk and trot to get his shoulders under control (and off my left leg/rein), and then we got going with the jumping.

We started out with a grid of 6 ground poles. The goal was to canter in and out without getting unbalanced or rushy in the middle. I had my work cut out for me to get him to canter in soft and balanced, and then make corrections in the middle as needed. Last time we tried this in November, he ducked out left and I almost ate a standard, but this time we were straight as an arrow. Eventually the ground poles became 3 Xs with spacer poles in between, and we managed to have some lovely straight, cadenced runs through. SO exciting when your work pays off!

After that, we moved on the Circle of Death exercise. Four poles on the ground in a circle, four canter strides between each pole. You have to be balanced and have really strong outside aids to make this work, and you have to be REALLY determined and looking ahead. We nailed it the first time through at a trot, and then nailed it a few more times when the poles went up to Xs. We were not able to keep the canter in between each jump because a) we don’t have the leads yet, b) he’s not that balanced, and c) I’m not that good, but I focused on turning his shoulder (with my outside leg forward) and that helped a lot. We never missed a jump even though we had a couple of ugly twisty-turny approaches. 

New jumps must be cleared with plenty of space, just in case of lava or alligators.

Once again, there were a couple of big takeaways:

• Do NOT come in to a fence in a canter if he’s unbalanced/leaning/strong. We are at a level that it’s OK to come back to trot and trot every single fence. 
• Do NOT make a move over the jump like I’m jumping 4’ (haha, like I’ve never heard that before!). Think about not letting my helmet move. 
• When in doubt, don’t worry about pretty. GET IT DONE. MAKE IT HAPPEN. I heard this over and over again, directed at every rider. This is a little different from what I hear in my H/J lessons… not that I don’t need to get it done, but it’s OK to make a circle or whatever so that I can be balanced and rhythmic. Even though coming in balanced and rhythmic is super important, I also think it’s important to KNOW, deep down, that even if you’re not coming in perfectly, you can still make it happen if you ride hard and are determined. Sh!t happens out on XC, and every fence isn’t going to ride like you’re in a hunter round. You have to know you can make it work. 

We finished up with a small course – a line where I trotted both fences, a vertical across the center of the arena, an oxer, and then the grid of Xs. He was a super good boy and even though we trotted everything with some cantering after each fence, I felt like we stayed straight and mostly balanced.  

Haffie Power!

Unfortunately, my lesson with with a big group, so each individual rider didn’t get to jump that many times.  But again, clinics are tough on everyone – the clinician doesn’t know everyone’s skill level, so it can be hard to arrange the groups so they work well. Hopefully if we do this again, we’ll be able to get a little more jumping in!

2/1 schooling hunter show: Breaking news! Paddy's not a hunter

Saturday, Lauren and I went to a tiny hunter schooling show at a farm about an hour north of us. Unlike my last experience at a tiny hunter schooling show, this one was very well-run, and the people there were very friendly. I contend the fact that there were several eventers and at least one dressage rider there helped both the timeliness and the overall cheerfulness of the folks there, but Lauren swears that hunter/jumper shows are normally like that. Hm.

Photo courtesy of Gorgeous Equine Photography. I actually wore a grey hunt coat instead of my usual black dressage jacket. Yay me?

Lauren and I both entered the 2'3 hunter division and the 2'3 eq class. Tragically for us, so did 10 little girls under the age of 14 or so, all of whom were mounted on well-trained ponies with auto changes. Still, we had a great time!

Simon and Paddy becoming BFFs at the show

We were able to school before the show started, and Paddy didn't take a second look at any of the jumps. Granted, they were all poles with one gate and one wall, but still, I was very pleased with how he went. We're still figuring each other out for warm-up - I think he needs way more time than I was able to give him, and that showed when our actual rounds begin. Sure, I can get him straight and on the aids after 45 minutes in a dressage lesson, but without that, we are motoring around the turns and falling in like mad. It's less than ideal, but it's not like all the pieces are magically going to fall into place overnight. A steady round is going to take a lot of work on all the pieces between the fences - we're getting better, but we're certainly not able to put in a steady, consistent, balanced round yet.

Paddy sports the classy tousled look

After we schooled, we took the boys back to the trailer to chill for almost 2 hours while the 2' division went. Eventually,  we tacked back up and headed back to the arena. The only problem with the show grounds was that there really wasn't any warmup area. We were able to walk and trot a little in a rather rocky field, and do one little X. That really wasn't enough for Paddy, so we went into our warmup round really underprepared. My only goal was to keep him steady, relatively balanced, and not suck, and I'd say that didn't really work. The last line was especially bad - headed straight for the in gate at mach one-Haffie. The second round was even worse - at one point we were barreling down a line with no brakes to speak of. For the third round, I decided that we needed to change things up, so we trotted into every line and all the singles. It wasn't pretty, but he sat back and started listening to me, and I started riding better. Finally, in our last round, which was equitation, I finally got things together. Paddy was much more relaxed and balanced in between the fences, listening, and we got most of our spots. We still weren't really hunter-show worthy, but I was much happier with our round as a whole.

Our second round. You may want to close your eyes - or better yet, just not watch.

We had a bit of a wait before our flat classes. There were 12 people in the arena together, and it was a pretty small arena, especially with all the jumps in it. In the first class, I was a little worried about how he'd so with so many other horses around him, but I needn't have. Aside from breaking several times in a canter both directions (my fault, not his), he was very good. We aimed for a steady trot, which we mostly got, but of course he's not got the long-and-low hunter frame that the judges were looking for. Our final class was hunter equitation on the flat, and he was even better for that one. I tried to ride quietly and do better with the canter leads, and we successfully had nice walk-canter transitions both ways - and I managed to keep it. It was enough for a 6th place! It was our only ribbon of the day, but it was hard-fought and I'm pretty damn proud of it.

They had cool red-and-white ribbons for Valentine's Day! 

Paddy got like 1293873571293 comments on how cute he was. The photographer couldn't stop taking pictures of him - every time I turned around she was snapping a shot of him. At one point she asked me if he ever WASN'T posing for the camera, and I said that I was pretty sure he practiced cute looks in the mirror.

So there you have it. We're definitely not cut out for the hunters, but we had a great time with Lauren and Simon and we lived. I have a much better idea of what to expect at shows where jumps are involved, and I am understanding what sort of warmup Paddy needs to put in a good performance. Despite all the zoomies, he's such a great little guy and such a trier. He was honest and sane and got better as the day went on. I really can't ask for more!

Literally progressing by leaps and bounds

A month ago, we couldn't trot with a steady rhythm up to and over an X. Every jump required a placing pole after it, to get Paddy to slow down and think. I was sitting the trot up to every fence to keep a decent rhythm.

A week ago, we were only allowed to canter a single vertical, and ONLY if we were steady up to it. (This while hubby on Reddums was gleefully cantering everything tidily. SO NOT FAIR.)

This week, we cantered damn near all the jumps, and while it wasn't anywhere near perfect, we got the job done and were significantly less of a train wreck... most of the time.

Jumps are apparently higher than they appear to be.

We are working on so many things. Rhythm, balance, straightness. So much to do, so much to keep track of.

Sometimes it looks awesome.

Sometimes it actually RIDES awesome too.

At this point in his training, I sort of have to micro-manage every footfall, especially in the canter. Otherwise he'll get strung out, fall on his forehand, swap leads, throw his shoulder, or all of the above. Sometimes all at once, too.

Then we look like awesome sauce. 

Sometimes, though, I remember to sit up, half halt him, keep the rhythm, and we make it work.

The roll top is lava! Don't touch eeet!

 Other times, not so much.

A classic "oh shit moment". Yes, I really did say "oh shit" at the base of this fence. He jumped it anyway, because he's just that kind of guy.

Wanna see this bad boy on video? Here you go. Just turn down your speakers, mmkay? The good news is that we recovered just fine and went on to do the line right after it. Eventers get the job done!

I'm just having SO MUCH FUN with Paddy. Every ride is progress, every ride is so much better than the last. He tries so hard and he works so hard, and he really, really wants to get it right. That combined with his athleticism, what more could I possibly ask for? Other than the adorable face, I mean!

Lesson with new eventing trainer

It's odd, but there aren't really any eventing trainers in the Austin area. Lots of H/J, lots of dressage. Eventing? Not so much. There was one at the barn I used to board at, but her teaching style didn't work for me, so I've mostly been on my own. This year I have been lessons catch-as-catch can with a H/J trainer and a dressage trainer, and working with a third (non-local) person when going XC schooling. But, there's a new eventing trainer in town, and I wanted to try her out.

(Random aside: we've been trying to get together for a lesson for a year. First, Saga went lame, then she moved to CA. This summer, she moved back to Austin, and then Echo was diagnosed with HS. So after a year, I finally managed to make a lesson with her on Paddy. Persistence pays off!)

We hauled out to the facility she teaches out of, which just so happens to be where FuzzyPony keeps her retired mare, who is Taran's mother (small world eh?).  Paddy came out of the trailer alert but relaxed, so we quickly tacked up and started in the covered arena. We did one walk lap each direction so he could look at the chairs and mirrors and such, then picked up the reins and got to work. He was actually much more relaxed over his back than usual - maybe he was more comfortable in the indoor? Anyway, I explained to the trainer what we'd been working on, and she immediately pointed out that he was stepping a bit short on his RH. Not lame, just that leg was not working as hard. I mentioned that I felt that the saddle was canted to the right most of the time, and that he had a very hard time moving off my right leg. The RH not carrying as much weight explains all of that, no? So we immediately started working on exercises to engage the RH:

• Shoulder fore to the right at the walk - this was hard for him and hard for me to coordinate. She ended up poking him in the flank to get him to move his RH under himself more, and he got the message. 
• Counter-flex to the left - especially in the corners. This helps free up the RF, which he tends to carry more weight on since the RH isn't as engaged. This also helps prevent him from falling out on his shoulder when going to the left (oh yes he's a pro at this).
• Moving my right hand up about 3 inches and half-halting - this seems to remind him to lift his R shoulder. It's immediately followed by a release, and moving my right hand back in place. NO HOLDING ALLOWED!

Following some fabulous trot work where he felt much more even and balanced, we went to the outdoor to get in a bit of jumping. Our less-than-stellar canter departs were met with "Oh, that's not as bad as I thought they'd be," and we went on to cantering poles in a line. Paddy's job was to figure it out, my job was to keep him straight. Unfortunately he got rather barge-y through the middle of the 4 poles, but I ran him into the arena rail stopped him on a straight line each time after, and he came right back.

I learned an early lesson, which is to POINT HIM RIGHT OF CENTER. The second time through on the right lead, he opted to duck out left in front of the second ground pole, and I almost face-planted into a jump standard. Seriously, I was staring that bad boy down thinking about how much it would suck if I actually hit it with my face! Fortunately Paddy has a thick neck and I have a good sense of self-preservation, so I wrapped my left arm around his neck and pulled myself up from falling off his right shoulder. After calling him a few choice names, we came again, I steered and kept my left leg on. Much better. We called it a day after having him go through once each direction with a balanced canter on the approach - through the grid he was still rushy, but was figuring it out on his own. Smart Pony!

So it was an interesting lesson. I really got a lot out of the dressage part of the ride (the tips on getting the RH to engage were GOLD), but the jumping part I'm not so sure about. Yeah, he can run down a line and get over All The Things, but at this point I feel like he needs to learn to slow down and think about things instead of just attacking. Are ground poles the way to go, or are there better tools we can use? This is an interesting question, because the following day I had a lesson with my H/J trainer, who had a completely different approach... stay tuned!

Also, Mom got me up from my nap to do this "lesson" thing. So. Mean.

Screamin' hot cross-country school

And when I say that our XC school today was screamin' hot, I mean literally. The high today was 107. We are certifiably insane.

MC and I rolled out this morning at 5:30 to head to Pine Hill to school. It's where I took Reddums this spring to show, and they have a lovely course with lots of teeny-tiny jumps (well, and giant Prelim jumps too) and good footing. We made the two-hour drive safely, unloaded, and tacked up. We'd arranged to meet Toni S., an eventing trainer whom I've worked with before, for a lesson. We were on by 8:30 and headed out to the stadium arena to warm up.

Echo was, per usual, looky but not spooky. Toni was very impressed with how well he held it together and how little the stuff in the arena bothered him. He started off very rushy (understandable, as I have not worked him much this week due to the heat) and she gave me a really good exercise to get him to release his poll/jaw. She made the point that racehorses are taught to pull against the bit, so the last thing I want to do is put even pressure on both reins. I practiced softening him at the walk and trot by moving my outside hand to my inside hip, then immediately giving when he softened. (We also did inside rein to outside hip.) 10 minutes of this and I had a very soft, attentive horse. WOW! So awesome when you find something that works!

We did some trot poles to get going (he was brilliant), trotted an X a few times, then headed out to XC. Toni rode on a Gator, which I thought might be a problem, but Echo never batted an eye at it. Unfortunately, what he DID bat an eye at were the other horses coming near him. In fact, he got downright naughty about Red coming toward him, and another horse cantering within 100 feet of him. Both times he tossed in a few bucks and thought about taking off, but I growled at him and he knocked it off. We really need to work on riding in traffic - I can't keep him away from other horses in a show situation forever, so we're going to have to learn to deal with it.

Our first log was a bit of a flub - came in at a good forward trot and I forgot to ride him all the way OVER the fence, so he sort of petered out in front of it. I smooched to him and kicked and we hopped over it, so no refusal, which was good. We trotted that one a few more times, stopping on a straight line after it. He started to get the idea and we moved on to a tiny brushbox (with no brush). This time we walked up to it, then trotted a few steps out. He was super good over it several times, hopping it and stopping nicely after. Awesome!

Next, we went to a big manmade hill that has some T/P jumps on it. Here we just walked up and down the hill, and he was balanced both ways. We had a momentary fit when Red trotted off up the hill and Echo was "left", but I asked him for some bend and we got back under control quickly. After that we went on a walk through the woods (he neglected to spook at the rabbit that zipped across the path, but we have those at home), and then came up to a small bench. Toni asked if we wanted to jump it and I was a bit nervous, as it was funny-looking and bigger than anything else we'd done. But I put on my big girl panties and trotted up to it - and over he went, cantering away nice and balanced as you please. WOOHOO! What a good Baby Racehorse!

From there we went on to do a teeny bank up/down, and that went so well that we tried the BN bank up/down. Up was super easy and he was very confident, but he took a moment to look at the down option. He stopped about 2 steps out, and I let him take a moment to figure it out. Then I closed my leg, sat up, and let my reins slide - and he stepped off like he'd done it a million times. We did it a few more times, and then we went up the Novice bank! He's now officially a pro at banks.

For our final stop, we headed to the water. Unfortunately, Echo seemed to have forgotten that he loves water and refused to get in. He wasn't even interested in taking a lead from Red, so we were on our own. We stood at the entry for perhaps 10 minutes without making much progress, and finally I turned him around and backed him in. I think he was a bit surprised when he first got in, but then I turned him around and let him stand for a moment and he was fine. We walked around in the water a bit and then trotted through it no problem, but when I went to trot him out he stopped dead and WOULDN'T LEAVE THE WATER! We figured out pretty quickly that he didn't like the change in color of the footing (water was grey-green, sand was reddish where it was wet), but it took several tries to get him to leave the water, at which point he leapt out. We turned around and came back in, and this time trotted and cantered through the water, then went to leave - same problem. He just didn't want to come out! What a conundrum - I didn't want to let him stop in the water (afraid he'd roll) but I was getting tired keeping him moving and he was tiring quickly too. Eventually we managed to make a glorious leap out (eeek!) and then I trotted off to finish on the BN bank up, to end on a super positive note. We ended up cantering up to that one, and he thought about popping his right shoulder, but I smacked him with the bat twice on his shoulder and he went to it straight. We were up and over and called it a day!

All in all, we had a great day. He was a really good boy and I think we are really starting to click. However, we have a lot of work to do to be more confident out there. I'd like to shoot for GAG at the October schooling show, and I think we're going to need to school a couple more times for that to be a confident possibility. We've also got to work on the traffic issue - maybe some group jumping lessons? Something. Lots to think about.

Of course I have exactly zero pics of the entire experience. I had my camera on me, but was worried that as soon as I took it out to snap a pic (even an ear pic!) he'd find something to be silly about and it would all be over. So you will have to make do with the one I took after we were done...

Post-ride snacking.

Last place blue ribbons

Let me start by saying that this picture is deceiving - we were the only ones in all three classes at the teeny-tiny hunter schooling show we went to this weekend.

(Yes, I still have vids from the dressage show last weekend. Someday, I might actually catch up on blogging. But not today.)

Yesterday (Sunday), SheMovedToTexas graciously came with me to a local hunter schooling show. She said she was there to groom and take pictures (and HOLY COW did she take some NIIICE pictures, which I am going to spam y'all with), but secretly I think she was there to make sure we didn't do anything stupid and eventer-y. I haven't been to many hunter shows in my life, but I swear I need a secret decoder ring to figure out the classes (seriously, how can you have an "X-rails Under Saddle" class where there actually aren't any x-rails involved?!?) AND some sort of magikal crystal ball to figure out when to get on to warm up. 30 trips around the arena = approximately one hour, unless it's teeny kids doing lead line, and then you have to use some sort of equation where you integrate over a margarita? Apparently I'm spoiled as an eventer - we get our ride times pretty much to the minute.

Anyway. This was possibly the worst-run show I've ever been to. The show bill said that classes would start at 8, with X-rails going first. Yay that's me! We arrived just before 7 and checked in. Echo felt that being left to stand on the trailer was an insult of the greatest magnitude, and proceeded to attempt to paw his way through the trailer floor. He's mostly quit pawing in the trailer when it's not moving, but I DID ask him to stand for like a whole 5 minutes. Poor baby. Anyway, we unloaded and Lauren longed him a little bit both directions while I got my boots on and fixed my hair. No Aimee, I did not do Hunter Hair. Lauren let me live anyway.

We headed down to the Derby field (drool) to warm up. There were several horses in the main arena, and I wanted to keep Echo clear of traffic as much as possible. As usual, we did a lot of walking before we picked up a trot. Also as usual, he was looky and only spooked at things like horses jumping.

Mostly, we looked like this. Whoa, Baby Racehorse!

But we had a few fancy moments.


And a LOT of "yes, we are new to this rodeo" moments. (Please ignore my awful chicken wings as my talented horse jumps me out of the tack over a 12 inch crossrail).

At 8:30, they STILL had not started any of the classes. Lauren went over to talk to the show management, and was informed that they were going to do lead-line and the other beginner classes first, and were NOT going to run the rings simultaneously like it had said on the show bill. Xs would go after the beginner classes, and then the 2' class. We decided I might as well get off Echo, hose him, and let him hang out at the trailer for a while.

Lauren got the MOST AWESOME shots of him being hosed. I just love these:

Such a cool shot.

I love the lighting in this one, especially how it's shining off his rump in the background. Lauren is one amazing photographer!

I call this his Fabio shot. He's even got the wind-swept forelock thing going on, lol!

After his bath, we tortured Echo by tying him to the trailer, while we sat down for a snack and some water. He pawed, and pawed some more. He walked. He pawed a little extra just to let us know how tiresome this was. He looked pathetic. Finally, he gave up and started eating his hay. So, even though standing tied to the trailer was not part of the day's plan, it ended up being an excellent lesson in How To Be Patient.

Eventually, Lauren looked into her Magikal Hunter Time Calculation Crystal Ball and said that I should get back on, so we tacked back up and went back over to the derby field to warm up again. More walking, and I decided we wouldn't trot or jump till just before we went in.

Good thing too, since we ended up waiting almost an HOUR AND A HALF. First, they finished up the ground poles class in the small arena. Then, the 2' folks finished warming up. Then they had to reset the 2' course. Then they had to CHANGE the course, since one of the trainers argued about a short turn off the rail (dude, SUCK IT UP AND GET IT DONE. Sheesh.) Then they had to do the 2' section... all while Lauren and I wondered what the deal was when they said the x rails were going to go first? Echo got another lesson in patience while we stood and watched the 2' riders jump. It was good for him (and probably me too, lol!)

We had a really funny moment when Echo discovered a vinyl sign on the side of the arena. He was suspicious of it, but very curious. He reeeeeached out to touch it... and was like, oooh, no. Not safe. Then he got curious again and got a little closer. Maybe this time? Nope. Danger! He finally screwed up his courage and TOUCHED IT WITH HIS NOSE!!! At this point we were laughing at my "brave" baby racehorse, and then a small gust of wind caught it and made it move. He immediately jerked his nose back and regarded it suspiciously, then apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor and tried to eat grass instead.

Jumps are not as dangerous as vinyl signs, apparently.

After the 2' class finished up, they reset the course with cross-rails. FINALLY! Then one of the trainers (the same one) argued that the flower boxes under the jumps made them too big for all the beginner riders... so she went to find the show organizer, talked about removing the flowers, then they had to find someone to take the boxes out... As soon as they were done with that, Lauren let me in the arena to wait for the judge to give me the go-ahead. But, apparently they a) had me in the wrong classes, and b) thought the kids were doing the x-rails first. W. T. F. Inwardly I was thinking "I've been on this poor horse for almost TWO HOURS" but I gritted my teeth, smiled, and politely asked if I could go first since the course was the same and the jumps were the same and I was the only one in the adult x-rail division. The judge took pity on me and let us do our thing. About damn time!

As we were doing our opening trot circle to the right, I could feel Echo sucking back under me. He does this when he's tired and he thinks we are done... and after an hour of warmup (the first time), then another TWO hours of standing and waiting, I could not blame him one bit. However, it was our turn to shine and I was going to make the most of it.

Me: WE ARE DOING THIS. Echo: DERP.

The first line he was way behind my leg and I kicked him down the line in a canter. It wasn't pretty, but I just wanted to get him thinking FORWARD. We came around to the second line, and he stopped dead to stare at a rolltop that had been moved to the side of the arena. I booted him over the first fence of the line from a standstill, so it didn't technically count as a refusal, lol! We cantered to the second fence, and that went well. Our second loop around went better, although I still felt very haphazard. My plan had been to come back to a trot between the fences in every line, but with him being so behind, I opted for a more forward ride. It mostly worked.

By the last fence, we almost had our shit together.

We did our second class immediately after. This time it was twice 'round to the left. Left is his better direction, and I figured we'd already had a chance to see the sights, so I was gonna make it count.

Determined.

Almost looking like we have a clue.

Again, our round didn't feel stellar, but he did it and I lived. And that was really the whole plan.

Lastly, the under saddle class. They were planning to put me in with the kiddos (all 6 of them) but I think the judge figured out I was riding a greenie, she generously asked if I wanted to go by myself. I was thinking, "Why yes, I think that would be the best for everyone's health and welfare," but managed to say a polite, "Yes, thank you, that would be really nice!". Echo and I discovered that he has a relatively decent walk-canter transition to the left (I think he was as surprised as I was), but unfortunately he forgot that he can canter on the right lead. We got it on our third try, and then he fell in so badly that I literally booted him with my right leg - Lauren said she heard him grunt from where she was standing, lol! We managed one lap and then the judge took pity on us before asking us to walk. 

Pretending we can canter left.

So, that's the story as to how I ended up with three blue ribbons at our first hunter show. It definitely wasn't due to skill or expertise! But overall it was a very educational outing - Echo got to learn how to stand at the trailer, and stand and wait for hours. Considering how long I was on him, I'd say he was a superstar and a very good boy about the whole thing. And, we made it around both our little jump classes without (much of) a meltdown on anyone's part. Mostly that was due to Lauren's expert show management and grooming techniques - THANK YOU LAUREN!

Good Baby Racehorse!

Next weekend? Cross-country schooling! Poor Echo has to work SOOOO HARD!

*All these gorgeous pics are courtesy of Lauren at SheMovedToTexas. THANK YOUUUUUU!!!

Ground poles are SO HARD for Baby Racehorses

We had an amazing jumping lesson today! We did tiiiny verticals (with flowers under them!) with ground poles in front of them. Echo was a star, even though he had to think really, really hard about where to put his feet and THEN jump. You could practically see the wheels turning in his brain as we approached it each time... too funny!

But, let me back up. First off, Echo has become an ANGEL to load on the trailer. Not that he was bad to begin with, but he'd hesitate now and then and require a bit of a pat on the butt. Now he just follows me right in, no problem. I may try teaching him to self-load, but we'll save that for later. :)

In warmup, all of the ground work and dressage work we've been doing has really paid off. We're doing a TON of laterals to get going - lots of leg yields down the rail and across the arena, squares, a little shoulder fore. My goal is to make sure I'm sitting evenly in the saddle (I tend to shift my weight left) and make sure he's responsive to my leg so that when we trot and everything 300x faster, he responds to my aids and doesn't fall in. Once I'm sure we've got that, we move on to trot.

I've discovered that I have to plan our rides pretty carefully, being sure not to do too much warmup so that I still have plenty of horse left for the actual lesson. It's not the he gets physically tired, it's that he gets mentally tired, I think.  On the track, workouts are half an hour, and you can totally tell when Echo's timer goes off the first time. He likes to park somewhere and pretend like he's not going to move, lol! To avoid the "but... but... we're DONE!" argument, I'm taking frequent short breaks. This also seems to be helping to allow his brain to reset since the lateral stuff is all very hard on him mentally. It really helps get him focused and attentive on me, but that's hard on his baby brain.

All the lateral work at the walk is translating into much less falling in at the trot. We had some amazing trots today, bent in the corners, soft in the poll - and of course we had some really awful moments in between, but that's OK. I'm asking for more and he's giving me more! Our canter was big, rolling, and oh-so-balanced... LOVE IT!!!

We did a couple of Xs for jump warm-up, and he was straight and nicely forward. Then, Paige added a ground pole. Echo approached it bravely enough, but sort of got his legs muddled. He was SUPER careful and didn't touch a thing, but you could tell he was thinking hard about what to do with his feet. We came though several more times, then Paige move the pole closer for a bit of a shorter distance. On the approach, I could feel him slow as he was sizing it up, and just kept my leg on. He compressed into this teeny little step, practically did a levade, and went over the fence. Good boy! A bigger distance was easier for him, and he adjusted his stride like it was nothing.

But then, we move on to another tiny vertical... WITH TWO TROT POLES. Echo's poor brain did not compute, and he stuttered to a walk on the approach. I smacked him on the shoulder with my bat and we walked over the poles, and then he daintily stepped over the vertical. We came around again at the trot, and he managed to organize his feet enough to make it through. The third time through, he forgot about his hind feet over the jump and touched it - he didn't make that mistake again! Once he was going through nicely, we moved the poles to the other side of the jump and approached it from the other direction. I swear it was like starting all over again, lol! He got better and better the more we did it, as he was able to figure out what to do with his feet. Ground poles take a lot of coordination, didn't you know?

For our grande finale, we did the vertical with two trot poles, then a big circle in the corner of the arena, then the vertical with one trot pole. After the first vertical, he landed in this perfect balanced right lead canter (the correct lead), and I went with it. We did a lovely 20 meter circle and the canter, came back to a nice trot, and trotted to the second fence. He came in a bit fast, but then adjusted his stride (all by himself!) to get a comfortable distance. He cantered away from that fence too, nice as you please, and I went with it down the long side. He was such a good boy, I was really super pleased with him, and Paige thought he did great. Naturally I have no pics or video of us in action, but here are the extremely difficult fences we jumped:

ONE trot pole. With FLOWERS! 

TWO! TWO TROT POLES! You have no idea how hard this is.

After I hosed him off, Echo discovered the fabulous floor fan. He happily stood in front of it for about 15 minutes, without moving a single foot. I think he wants one for his birthday.

Yep, that's my maniacal ground-tied baby racehorse. Better be careful - he might inspect you for treats!

Tomorrow: Dressage lesson! Woot!!!

The first month of Echo

I realized the other day that it's been a whole month since Echo arrived at Wyvern Oaks. We didn't get off to as good of a start as I had hoped, but sometimes that's how it is with horses.

However, in the last week and a half, we've had some super nice rides. We took our first lesson with my jumping instructor, although we didn't actually jump anything. Instead, we focused on getting Echo to stand up straight under himself (that is, not fall in while staring at things outside the arena), give a little to the bit laterally (that is, follow my hand around a circle), and disengaging his hindquarters under saddle. The real point to all of this is to get Mr. Distracted to focus on me, instead of spending all his time watching everything else that's going on around and outside the arena. It's interesting because he'll do what I ask, but it's almost an afterthought. I'm definitely not the focus of his attention, and while I don't expect a whole lot at this stage, we need to start in that direction.

We've also been doing a lot of walks down the street, just for building muscle and seeing the world. We've nosed mailboxes, trash cans, and traffic cones, talked to people driving (slowly) by, met dogs of all sizes, stomped on a few manhole covers, and met all the neighbor's horses. So far the only thing that he's actually spooked at was a deer, who spooked at him first. I'm not sure who was more surprised! He just sort of spooked in place and then snorted at the deer, who went bounding off down the street. Good Echo! He's also getting braver about being way out in front of our riding buddies. Either that, or he thinks he's "winning" whatever race he's in.

Brave Baby Racehorse!

I've started to longe him as well, to work on having him focus more on me. The first time made me think that he'd never been longed before, but I swear they told me at Goldmark that they trained all their horses to longe. He stopped and turned in, cut off sides of the circle, bolted around (very tidily and balanced), and pretended he didn't know any voice commands. We worked for perhaps 15 minutes total, and called it a day when he did 2 whole trot circles each direction without running off or trying to run me over. The funny thing? Every time since the first, he's been an angel. Prompt to the voice commands, nice round circles, no turning in. Soooomebody is trying to fooooool me, I think! This boy is definitely smarter than he looks. I'm going to start incorporating very loose side reins in our next couple of sessions so we can start working on strengthening his top line a bit.

Gratuitous pic of adorable pony with adorable husband. :)

Last night we managed to squeeze in another jumping lesson and Echo was 100% improved over the last one. He's doing much better with not falling in, and much better following my hand.  Paige commented on how much he's improved in such a short time. We even did some "jumping" - trotted over two poles in a "line", then over a stack of three poles, and over a tiny X. It was toward the end of the lesson and he was not as forward as I would have liked, but the second and third times through he really put the pieces together and made a tidy job of it. We even cantered away from the final X in a nice, balanced rhythm. When I went over to chat with Paige, she was like, "Um, so what do you think about making him a hunter? 'Cause he's got the movement to go far." I laughed and told her that the only hunting he'd be doing is field hunting! Then she kept dropping hints about what a cute baby hunter he was, and how nice he'd look in the pre-greens, lol! Honestly I wouldn't mind taking him to some schooling hunter shows just for the miles, but I can't STAND the way they run the classes and how you never know when you're going to ride. At least with eventing you know exactly where you need to be and when - that makes my little OCD self quite happy, thank you very much.

Next week, we jump this. Or eat it, he's not sure which.

This weekend my schedule is clear, so I'm looking forward to lots of saddle time. Yay progress!!!

Dressage school and jumping lesson with the Redster

I believe there are a couple of folks out there who are proud owners of amazing chestnut ponies – and not that I ever doubted you, but I am finally coming to an appreciation of the awesome power of the Red-headed-attack-pony!

Wednesday evening, hubby went for his dressage lesson and I came along to school. After Red’s back soreness over the weekend, I added a fleece half-pad and used the old folded towel trick (classy!) to raise the pommel of the saddle a bit. He certainly felt much more forward and freer in his shoulders and back – so much so that I could NOT sit his trot for love nor money. Our upward trot and canter transitions were much better, and he’s getting SO much stronger in the canter, particularly to the left. Which is funny, since two weeks ago his right canter was stronger. Oh well. The downward transitions were still pretty messy, but at least we are getting them more-or-less on schedule. I think part of it is that I need to have him more collected and slower in the trot to nail the downward trot-walk transitions, and he was just forward-forward-forward. Leg-yielding into and out of transitions worked pretty well, but I really felt like I could have used some magic trainer dust from the weekend for a smoother ride. Don’t you wish you could bottle that stuff and use it when you need it!

Last night we took a jumping lesson, the first in a long while. Red was a total star, although he likes to take the short spot. I worked on riding the canter stride all the way to the fence, instead of trying to pick a spot, and keeping the RPMs up all the way to the base (Shoulders Back! Leg ON!). It feels like we don’t have any speed because he doesn’t cover much ground with each stride (we made a tidy 5 strides in a 4 stride line), so I have to resist the urge to let him flatten out and run. I also have to almost sit in the saddle in order to keep my upper body back – I think this has to do in part with the fact that I’ve got a very long torso and he’s got a very short neck. If I get even a tiny bit forward I’ve practically got his ears up my nose. If I ride in a tiiiiny half-seat, stay steady, up, and back, and keep my leg on, he jumps tidily around every damn time. If I get a little ahead, we chip. We only had one really truly awful chip where I ended up on his neck and he would have had every right to stop, but he jumped for me anyway because he’s such a good boy. We even blasted over a 2’6 fence that had a Christmas tree under it – he jumped so big and round he about threw me out of the tack. Ooops! We finished up with a few confidence-building (for me, not him) fences, and called it a day.

Yes, I jumped this. No, I did not try to eat the pink flowers. Much.

He’s got tonight off, and then I’ll give him a short dressage school tomorrow. We’re not super-prepared for the show on Sunday, but I’m confident we’ll make it around if I ride well. He’s certainly got the heart for it, I just need to believe that we can put in a good team effort and get the job done.

Too bad mom's eventing vest and stuff is all green. I look so awesome in blue!

And then suddenly...

... I started blogging again.

You know how sometimes there's plenty going on, but you're just not inspired to blog? Yeah, that's been me. I've been riding - although with highs last week of 105, I admit not as much as I'd like, especially given that we've got a show this Saturday. I've made it through the entire four seasons of White Collar (yes, in two weeks. Don't ask.), and am now bummed that I will only get to see Matt Bomer (swooooon) weekly, or on re-runs. The husband is out of town, but nothing has broken (yet) - still waiting for that axe to fall. And the current scorpion body count stands somewhere north of 15 (UPDATE: Make that 16. I just squished another one on the wall. Ugh). I have no idea why there are so many all at once when I haven't seen any for months, but at least the little bastards are showing up dead or nearly so.

Let's see, what to catch up on. Oh, Saga's got a new farrier. This one also works for a (different) vet, but actually calls back and responds to text messages. He makes house calls too, so I might not have to haul any more to get Saga shod. That would be super-awesome-nice. The first shoeing job was a little scary, but Saga is sound and comfortable, so... I guess it's all good.

 LF. That damn bulge is STILL there, after two years of trying so many ways to let it grow out. The new farrier is trying to rasp down the hoof wall, which makes me cringe. HOWEVER, when I pointed out that what really needs to happen is that the wall needs to be at the same angle all the way down WITHOUT rasping, he said, "You're right, and that's where we're going to be in six months or so." At least we both have the same end goal in mind!

 When he pulled the previous set of shoes, a huge chunk of toe came off. Awesome. Saga was at 5 weeks exactly... he looked more like 9 weeks.

 LF. Better, although the hairline is still pushed up at the quarters.

At least he's sound.

I've been doing regular jumping lessons, and seem to be mostly improving. I'll work on one thing and then something else (that I thought I'd already fixed) will break. Also, after seeing me school some of the Training XC fences (3'3 ish), Paige has jacked the fences up. We're jumping mostly 2'6-3'. It's going pretty well - my big challenges continue to be keeping the elbows in, and not letting him get rolling up to the fence. Saga is naturally downhill and has a big chest and shoulder, so it's hard for him to balance back. We're getting better, but we've got a long ways to go before I'll really feel like the power is coming from behind.

Paige also snuck up a nice 3'3-ish oxer on a line we were doing. I came around and said something like "HOLY CARP THAT'S HUGE". She reminded me not to look at it, and Saga jumped through like a pro. Is he awesome or what?!?! (Please ignore my 'flying chicken' elbows).

This coming Saturday is the LOPE benefit horse show. I'm riding Saga and Oberon in two dressage classes each (Intro B and C), a hunter over fences class each (Saga at 2'6 and Oberon is jumping Xs and will likely spook at the flowers), and a trail versatility class each (Saga ridden and Oberon in-hand). One of the likely obstacles on the trail versatility course will be walking over a tarp on the ground. Oberon will walk over one, but every time I move it to a new place, it's a whole new game. Most recently, he licked the tarp and then picked it up in his teeth, managing to scare the crap out of himself when the whole thing moved. Yep, he's speshul. I just hope he doesn't do something that classy at the show. I'm also on to him about eating fake flowers (he tried that at our jumping lesson last week). With his penchant for sampling anything and everything, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps he's part goat.

Intro B I'm not worried about. Intro C, with the canter, is going to be ... bad. Oberon has a canter departure that sort of resembles a Lazy Boy sofa trying to throw itself across the room, or maybe a hippo trying to heave itself to its feet. You can almost hear him go "UH!" on the departure. It's not exactly the most graceful thing ever, and I can't wait to hear what the judge has to say about it. Saga's canter departs, especially to the right, usually involve falling in on his shoulder, pinning his ears, and running. They're awesome and make me feel like SUCH a good rider (NOT). I decided to take him out and longe him the other night to see how he did on the longe line, and the answer is... he can't do a canter depart to save his life. He's so unbalanced he just can't do one cleanly, even on his own. It was really eye-opening watching him struggle so much - it's not just me, although I am obviously not helping any. We're not going to fix anything in time for Saturday, but I'll be longing him more regularly to help him figure it out on his own. In the meantime, we'll just muddle through the test and hope for a miracle.

Did I mention that MC, Cash's beloved Auntie (and Chief Bringer of Carrots) is taking him to the show as well? And that Cash's canter departs are nothing short of perfect? I'm going to get my ass kicked by my friend riding my "retired" schoolmaster. But hey, the ribbon she's going to come home with will look great just the same! ;)